Christmas tree stand



M 3 3 1931. H. H. WERMINE 1,805,649

CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed Feb. 14, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zia/0W1 751,902057 7725702 [73 I May 19, 1931. H. H. WERMINE 1,305,649

CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed Feb. 14, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Ma'yIQ, i931 UNITEDstares-'- HUGO" H. wmmme, ofi vrnnlr PARK, llllllillfllf)ES, .-iSiiIGrH01B );'IO Bnnnnn MANUFACTUBLI ING' COMPANY,onomoimo; rntinoign- GQRPUELATIGN or ILLINOIS,

' V CHRISTMAS TREE Application fiiearetmar 14, 192711. semi m. ii'hs,

'This invention relates itoChristmas tree stands such as are providedfor supporting Christmastrees in upright position's'o' as to facilitate.decoration and exhibition thereof; 6"" The principalobj e'ct ottheinvention is to provide a stand having, incorporated therein;

means for; convenientlyconnecting one or; more strings of Christmas treelights to an electric current supply'line; means for sup 'plyinga lowpotential electric current to a string of lights" requiring af currentoflower i Voltage than that of the supply lineyme'ans for preventingunintentional connection of the tree'dights to ahigli'potentiallinejfand 'means for selectivelyfiztshingor continuously. H g g g 4 g r1 the'set'sc're'ws Without the additioii ofs'peciel lighting some of thelights.

Further objects of the invention are; to provide it stand capableofrigidlylsup po'rting .2; tree v of relatively large size to provide"stand which is adjustable and capahlefof supj porting treeso-f acomparatively ilarge range f of sizes to provide a stand'havingn ez nsfor supplying water other life sustaining fluid orni'aterial to thetree; and to provide astan'd 'Whichma-y bemanuficturedifrom sheet'netgil I with great facility andeconomy,

Othe'rjohects and tdv nta'ges of the iniren tion will ztppear byreference to the following 7 I these 1 0 illustratedis such-that it maycon veniently 'and economically he manufttctured fr'oinsheetnietitleither h'y stamping or spinn1ng.'- Y

specification and accompanying" drawings illustrating a selectedembodiment ofthe in Vention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan.

Fig.2isasectio1i on the'line2 2 ofFigylf v U g 7 I v such eisele'ctriclights a replaced iii the tree" Fig. 8 is a detail sectionofthe device for selectively 'flashin some ofthe lights.

Fig. 4 is a detail section of i a connector for preventing improperconnection o'f thetree' lights, the parts being shownsepurated,

Fig. 5 is a'tv'iring diagram ofa transformer and tree" lightconnections.

Referring ow to the fdrafiingsl lhave iii- 1 dicatedfin Figs; 1' and 2;ahase; consisting-"off an inverted cup shaped or ho I-"like structurew10'ofsheet metalof su'itahlefgauge to form a rigid gnu strong A centralportion of the bum-like structure is depressed 'a'sfzin? dicated' atllto-forin an inverted conical re ceptecle' adapted to receive at fillingof water or other life sustaining liquid trimmer iai "as 5 g orcontinuously lighting ofihracket members '15 secured at their lower endsto the hase l'O and sit their upper ends to 5;?

, the said annular member 14. i A set screw' l6" threide'dlfy engagesit. suitable aperture ezich of 'the hracketlnieinbers.15 and c'orrfg; vSpondi lQPOTti n of the member 14 and is adjusthle inwardlyv oroutwardly t0 6'6 erly position 'the tree; v threading the setscrews 16through apertures extending through both the bracket members 15" indannular iiieinber lt along'er, and c'onse -f quently more secure hearingis providedfor bossesor the'lilietothe annular member 14? It will beapperentffrom an insizection'of F 2oftli'e drawing, that the {tree ispositioned in the stand at itslower end engagement with the walls ofthe' receptacle 11' near the apex of "the" inverted cbnicer depressionin stichf t We?that practicully the? entire-surta ceof the lower end ofthe tree is e'xiiosed-to' the fcontentsjofthe reqe mcl whereb the said'co'ntelit sf'ina'y, effectzi lengthening of: the

lifeoffthetreewith *the greatest fadiflitjii It ttill lje ,noted thetthe particular form of In accordance With nsutl custorn, lights atVarious'pointsj for purposes of ornan len tution'. JThe liglits'orc'lina rily used insideof ho-iiije's ma otlier fbidildings, areintended I tofopera'te "one; lower voltage than is usual: lyfprovidedinfdomesticfelectric current sup In order to avoid these objections anddisadvantages, I prefer to provide a string of lights for operation on arelatively low voltage, but connected in parallel so that if one lamp isburnt out, the others of the string will not be affected and it willconsequently be a simple matter to replace the burnt out lamp.

For the purpose of supplying a low potential current to one or morestrings of lights connected in parallel, from a high potential supplyline, I provide a transformer indicated at 18, mounted on the inside ofthe base 10 by suitable means such as brackets 19. A separable connector20 having its lower portion 21 fixedly mounted in the base and connectedby means of a conductor 22 to the transformer is provided for thepurpose of connecting the transformer to the high poten tial supplyline. A plurality of socket members 23 are fixedly mounted in the baseas shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, and are each connected by means ofsuitable conductors 24, to the low potential output line 24' of thetransformer 18.. The socket members 23 are preferably of a special typeand difl'er from the usual wall or floor sockets provided in houses forconvenience in connecting lamps and other electrically operated devicesto the current supply line.

In the present instance, the socket members 23 comprise a body member 25having a portion extending through a suitable aperture in the base 10, apair of contact members 26 and 27 arranged at substantially right anglesto each other in suitable recesses in the body 25 and the casing 28. Thecontact members 26 and 27 are fastened in place in the body 25by meansof screws 29 which threadedly engage the said body portion and whichalso serve as terminals or binding posts to which the conductor wires 24are connected. The casing member 28 and the body portion 25 areconnected together by means of abolt and nut 30 which further serves toclamp the said body and easing portion on the base 10, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 4. The body member 25 is suitably apertured as at 31to admit the prongs 32 and 33 of a plug member, which prongs arearranged at right angles relative to each other in accordance with thearrangement of the contact members 26 and 27. The said prongs 32 and 33are mounted in a cap member 34 by means of screws 35 which threadedlyengage suitable recesses in the cap member, and which screws serve asbinding posts to reoeive conductors 3636,' which conductors are extendedupwardly into the tree and to which conductors the desired lamps areconnected. It will be apparent that a plug having its prongs arranged asabove described, will not fit the'usual socket provided in house wiringlines which ordinarily consists of a pair of flat contact membersarranged either parallel to one another or in line with one another. Itis also obvious that other forms of separable connectors may be providedwhich will not be connectible with the usual house wiring sockets I havefound that by flashing some of the strings of lights, instead ofcontinuously lighting them, that an exceptionally orna mental effect isobtained. In order that certain of the strings of lightsmay be flashedif desired, I provide a flasher 37 in one or more of the circuitsbetween the transformer and the desired sockets 23. This flasher mayconsist of any desirable type of flasher but I prefer to provide onewhich may be controlled so as to'selectively flash or continuously lightthe lights as desired.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the flasher whichcomprises a base member'38 preferably of suitable insulating material, acontact member 39 and a bi-metal contact member 40. The contact members39 and 40 are mounted on the base member 38 by suitable means such asscrews 41, which also conveniently serve as binding posts, by whichmeans the conductors 42 and 43 are connected to the said contactmembers. A, coil of resistance wire, indicated at 44, is wound aroundthe bi-metal contact member 40 and is permanently connected at one endtothe contact member 39 as indicated at 45, and at its other end to thecontact member 40 as indicated at 46, a wrapper 60 of suitableinsulating material, such as asbestos, which material will not readilybe affected by heat, being first applied to the contact member.

Current passing through the resistance wire 44 effects heating thereof,which heating, in turn, affects the bi-metal contact member so as tocause the latter to curl outwardly at its lower. end until the contactpoints 47 and 48 on the contact members 40 and 39 respectively, areclosed so as to establish a circuit, therethrough, and under whichconditions the heating of the resistance coil will stop until thetemperature of the bimetal contact member is reduced to such an extentthat the contact member will restore itselfto its original position withthe contact points47 and 48 separated. It will be understood that thebi-metal contact member is-composed of two strips of metal, one of whichstrips is readily affected by heat and caused to curl in the directiondesired, whereas the other of said strips is of such metal that it isnot readily affected by heat and tends to retain its normal positionagainst the action of the other strip.

A lever 49 is pivotally mounted in an aperture 50 in the base member 38,the base member being provided with an outwardly extending'portion 5l toprovide the necessary bearing portion and to protect the lever 49 frombreakage. The lever 49 is arranged so that by swinging it} on its pivot,the inner end 52 thereof will engage the adjacentfend ber 39. The springtendency of the contact member 40 to return to its normal position willcause the lever 49 to lock the contact member 40 in engagement with thecontact member 39, since the engaging portionvof the lever 52 will havepassed beyond the center on which it is pivoted. Any suitable cover asindicated in Fig. 2 may be provided to enclose and protect the contactmembers I -by said base for engaging the trunk of the tree are, pointspaced upwardly from its,

.lower end {formaintaining the tree in up- 39 and 40 and resistance coil44, I I

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a wiringcdiagram for my improved Christmastree stand wherein I have shown an auto-transformer used for providing aplurality of'low potential current supply lines front a high potentialsupply line. 7 In the diagram I have indicated a coilj53 connected atits opposite ends to .a high potential current supplyline indicated at 5The coil 53 is tapped in the present instance at seven intermediatepoints so as to provide, with taps taken fr-om,

the ends of the coils, eight independent low potential circuits, eachterminating in one of, the sockets23. Intwoof thetaps, as 55 and 56, Iconnect a pair of flashing devices such as described above, and each ofthe flashing I the invention,the scope ofwhich should be devices isconnected by means of aconductor 57 to one of the sockets'Q-VS. It willthus be seen that I provide foursockets indicated'at' 58 from which anintermittent current supply maybe had for effecting flashing of lightsconnected thereto and that four sockets, 59, are provlded from WlllCh. acontinuous-current may be had for continuously'lighting' such lights asare connected thereto. It will be further noted that by dividing thetaps 55 and 56 into two separate conductors, each having a flashingdevice included in its; cir

cuit, I provide a plurality of intermittent current circuits which willbe leffectivejto flash lights connected thereto, entirely independentlyof each" other. 7 By this 'means I avoid a monotonous regular flashingof lights. I prefer to provide the above described form of autotransformer for use with my Christ mas tree stand, partly because of itslow cost' of construction, its efficiency as compared with other types,and because of the fact'that a transformer of this "type having theability to furnish sufficientcurrent to light as manyaseight stringsof'lights of eight lights each, may be made relatively small in size andtherefore conveniently concealed within the base or inverted cup-shapedmember a I am aware that various changes in the i form,'construction,and proportion of parts as well as in the arrangement thereofmaybe madewithout departing a, from the spirit of determined by" reference to thefollowing claims which should be construed as broadly art. 4 a

I claim as my invention: a 1. A stand of the classdescribed comprising'an inverted, generally l)OWl shaped base formed from a single sheetof material, said sheet having a centrally disposed part deas possibleconsistent with the state of the pressed so as to form a receptacle forreceiving and positioning the lower end of a Christi mas tree or thelike: in the base, a marginal portion of'said sheet, spaced from therecep tacle, being turned downwardly to form a I support forthereceptacle, and means carried a right position.v

- 2. A stand of the class described comprising an inverted, generallybowl shaped base formed from a single-sheet of material, said sheethavinga'centrally disposed portion depressed toform a receptacle forreceiving the lowerfend of a Chrlstmas tree or the like, and

a marginal portion of said sheet being turned i downwardly so as toengage a flooror other ceptacle'for engaging the lower portion of a treefor rigidly supporting the same.

A standof the class described comprising a one piece, circular, mverted,bowlshaped member having a central portion of its top depressed to: forman inverted, sub

stantia-lly conical-shaped receptacle adaptr 105 ed'to receive andposition the lowerend of a Christmas tree or the like, substantiallycentrally of the stand, the rim portion of saidsupport at 'a pointspaced from the recepinverted bowl-shaped member being substantiallycoaxial with said depressed portion'an'd, extending downwardly below thebottom of the latter for engaging the fioor orgother surface, and meansfor engaginga portion of the tree at a point spaced upwardly from the"lower end thereof to hold the treel upright.

I HUGO 'I-I. WERMINE.

